Centre exempts ‘white category’ industries from key State pollution board permits

Union Environment Ministry exempts 39 industries from pollution board permissions, easing compliance burden and promoting ease of doing business.

Saying that it has complied with a “long standing demand by industry,” the Union Environment Ministry has exempted 39 categories of industries from the mandatory requirement of approaching State pollution control boards for permission to run their industries.

These include, among others, manufacturing units to make solar cells and modules, wind and hydel power units; fly ash bricks/ block manufacturing; leather cutting and stitching and assembly of air coolers /conditioners, repairing and servicing. All of these sectors are categorised as ‘white category’ industries, meaning that they are the least polluting in nature, according to a 2016 classification by the Central Pollution Control Board.

There are four categories of industries as per this classification and they are colour-coded as: Red, Orange, Green and White. ‘Red’ category industries, fall under the strictest scrutiny as the goods being manufactured result in toxic effluents.

In a press statement on Thursday (November 14, 2024), the Centre said the move would reduce the “compliance burden” of industries. “The government has accepted the long-standing demand of industry to remove dual compliance of Environmental Clearance (EC) and Consent to Establish (CTE) for setting up of new industries. Now, non-polluting white category industries will not be required to take CTE or Consent to Operate (CTO) at all. The industries which have taken EC will not be required to take CTE. This will not only reduce compliance burden, but also prevent duplication of approvals,” the Environment Ministry noted.

An official in the Ministry told The Hindu that even prior to the notification, ‘white category’ industries were given permits by the State departments responsible for industry. “These are the least polluting category but this notification formalises an existing practice where such industries got a consent to operate without much trouble.”

The easing of this norms also flows from amendments to the ‘Water Act,’ earlier this year in Parliament.

The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, was the first piece of legislation in independent India that identified the need to have an institutional structure to address contamination of water bodies. This led to the creation, in September 1974, of the Central Pollution Control Boards (CPCB) and State Pollution Control Boards (SPCB) that were charged with monitoring and preventing public water resources from getting contaminated by sewage and industrial effluents.